Charter of the United Nations
![A signatory page of the United Nations Charter, passed unanimously and signed by all the representatives of UN Member States, came into force 24 October 1945.](/web/20160804155102im_/http://www.un.org/en/decolonization/images/charter.jpg)
A signatory page of the UN Charter, which passed unanimously,
and was signed by representatives of UN Member States in 1945.
(UN Photo/Rosenberg)
The decolonization efforts of the United Nations derive from the UN Charter's principle of “equal rights and self-determination of peoples” as well as from three specific chapters in the Charter devoted to the interests of dependent peoples: